The Cleveland-based baroque orchestraApollo's Fire, together with founder / conductor Jeannette Sorrell, launched on Avie in July 2010 with a double release featuring discs of Mozart and J.S. Bach. They follow with their tribute to the 400th anniversary year of Monteverdi's seminal Vespers of the Blessed Virgin, released in anticipation of the group's seven-city tour in October 2010 performing this work, culminating with a concert in New York City. Vespers has been a signature piece for Apollo's Fire for over ten years, and it's fitting for Sorrell and her vibrant band - already well-known through their extensive national touring and NPR broadcasts - to bring this magnificent masterwork to wider audiences through this recording.